Saturday 27 September 2014

Catching some culture - modern and ancient

On the whole, we were extremely fortunate with the weather we had on our six and a half week holiday in the Haute Alpes, with only about four days of really wet weather. One of those was a couple of days after we finished the GR54, when we did nothing much except read all day long. Luxury, really. Then, just before we were due to come home we had three days that didn't augur well for climbing. On one of those days we went for a walk back up to Refuge de l'Alpe de Villar d'Arène (where Di and I  had spent the third night of our circuit of the Tour des Ecrins); on the other two we did a bit of driving, including popping over to Italy briefly.

Going to Italy

Our apartment just south of Briançon was only a short a short drive from the border, so when it had been raining all night and we woke up to showers on the 19th we decided it might be interesting to go to Italy. Sestrière, which was a main venue for the 2006 Winter Olympics, seemed like an interesting place to take a look at and was relatively close so we went there. Almost all of the 800 or so people that Wikipedia says live there  must have been hiding out from the rain on the day we visited, as the streets were pretty much deserted. No one seemed to be out golfing on what - along with at least a couple of others - claims to be the highest 18-hole course in Europe.

We did pop into a ski shop that was totally filled with the new season's clothing, where HJ tried on a ski jacket that was worth 600 Euros, but he decided he didn't really need it. They had a lot of other flash stuff on the racks but no climbing clothing, so I didn't think it was worth hanging around.
There was one café that was actually open, so we popped in there for coffee (the real reason for crossing the border!) and fresh Italian pastries. The coffee was definitely better than the standard fare across the border, but not a patch on the world's best coffee found  ...  in Australia, of course! Is that an idle boast? No, not at all; actually that should be emphatically: NO! Melbourne has been voted as having the best coffee in the world; it holds a coffee expo each year; the world's best baristas think it's right up there; and baristas from Australia regularly place high in the World Barista Championships (which was held in Melbourne in 2013).

After our sampling of the coffee in Sestrière, we headed down the hill to the gorgeous little town of Cesana Torinese where we wandered around and visited a couple of wonderful specialty wine and food shops. I would have liked to bring home a whole container load of some of the different pastas, cheeses, charcuteries and, of course, great wines! In the end we just brought a couple good bottles of wine back across the border along with some nice grissini.

Fort Queyras: Stepping back into the 13th Century

Visiting Italy was a bit of a lark but with the weather still being a bit damp we didn't feel much like hanging around so we headed back over the border. There was still a good bit of the day left so HJ thought it might be interesting to go to Fort Queyras, which we'd passed and admired when we had our day up at La Blanche. The first stage of the fort was finished by 1265, then added to a number of times, most notably by Vauban in the 17th century. Di preferred to kick back at the apartment and read her book, so it was only HJ, Tammy and I that continued on south from Briançon.

A plus to heading down to the Queyras area was that the weather was much better when we got there. Unfortunately the photos I took don't give a real sense of what it was like to poke around but I'll show you a few anyway ...

Here's a turret that you see as you approach the fort ...

Turrets provides protection for the corners of the castle

... and the section of the fort it protects ...


In the trench below the outer walls (once filled with water?) a quintain awaits ...

quintain

Here's one of many old large doorways inside the castle ...


... and a mixture of older and newer parts of the castle, with some old walls and a newer building with large slate tiles on the roof ...


Archers' slots on two levels meant that the castle could rain arrows down on attackers below ...

Keep the invaders at bay!

A walkway down to the lower walls above the river gave us good looks back toward the castle proper, showing how difficult it would have been to attack from this side ...

Fancy heading up for an attack any time soon?

Steep slopes protect the main castle

... although in one place the walls could do with some cosmetic repairs ...

A bit of patching would be good here!

Still, given that this part dates at least 400 years, it's holding up pretty well!

There were some interesting displays set up inside the fort, including his one which shows the trappings of heraldry and battle for the upper crust riding the horses ...

I just haven't got a thing to wear!

A closer look at the headgear shows that it was a bit more upmarket that what Ned Kelly, the iconic Irish-Australian bushranger pulled on when confronting the forces of the British Empire ...

Helmet

Despite his full flowing beard, I suspect Kelly would have loved to have been able to pull on the full medieval knight's kit ...

Suit of armour

For both the landed and titled soldiers and the hoi polloi alike, the contents of this storeroom would have helped keep the psychological demons of war at bay - or at least push them to the back of one's mind ...

Door to wine cellar

.. but perhaps it was the hoi polloi that largely visited this establishment ...

Another typical afternoon at the castle pub
This fort is in private  hands and, the historical whimsy aside, the owner obviously does not have enough money for upkeep. It's situated in what would have been a very strategic spot so it's a pity that it hasn't been restored to a higher standard. Still, as only one of perhaps hundreds of such important fortifications, it's easy to understand why it hasn't been bought and repaired by the government. It's been chopped and changed significantly over the centuries so perhaps that's why it isn't in the "significant national monument" category. However, I can't help but think it would be wonderful to see it restored to what it was like immediately after Vauban got hold of it and added his additional fortifications.

All in all, our drive over to the cloud-bound town of Sestrière with its massive ski infrastructure, back down to the charming and prosperous village of Cesana Torinese - no doubt owing its prosperity to that infrastructure up the way - then on through tiny, less prosperous villages to the ancient Fort Queyras was an interesting day of contrasts. Here's a snapshot of the route we drove, where the map clearly shows the ski infrastructure both at Sestrière and back over into France at the even more massive Serre Chevalier ...


My gut instinct tells me that if you were a skier, Sestrière would have more of a village feel about it if that was part of your consideration for a ski holiday. For mine, I'd take the autumn and summer back on the French side of the border if I were ever to come back to this area, with its stunning cycling, great hiking and - especially - a wealth of climbing variety to be had.

Abbaye de Boscodon: 900 hundred years of history

After our visit to Italy and then south to Fort Queyras, it rained heavily again overnight and was unsettled in the morning - so not very promising for climbing. There was some information in the apartment about the Abbeye de Boscodon south of Briançon, which sounded like a worthwhile place to visit and it was, providing a significant contrast to the previous day in terms of a sense of space and a slower pace of life.

Still a fair drive - like most of the driving in this part of the world, it's not the distance that starts to take its toll, it's the time it takes to get there,  and some of the drivers who are in perhaps too much of a hurry for the terrain they are traversing - it was well worth it for the serenity the place bestowed.
Here's the route from our apartment with Google Maps showing how long you can expect to take to get there ...


Like, Fort Queyras, the Abbaye de Boscodon has gone through a number of stages over its lifetime. Here's a very brief history ...

From 1132 to the present day (right click for a larger view)
According to a brochure we picked up, the monks were called into the area by the local lord, Guillaume de Montmirail, in 1142 so there appears to some discrepancy about the abbey's early history. It took something like 32 years to get the thing built. The ebb and flow of warfare in the 14th century, including the Hundred Years' War, along with frequent raids and looting led to the destruction of the monastic building and cloister but thankfully the church was spared and remains as it was originality built.  The abbey was declared a national monument in 1974 and significant restoration has taken place since, with much of the work carried out through summer camps and with the help of local businesses.

I still find it hard to get my head around the fact that this quite imposing structure has been standing for almost 900  hundred years. While it's one thing for a building of its size - or even much larger - to have been built in a more populated area, it's quite another for it to have been erected here in the heart of the French Alps where it was such a struggle to survive, and with people available to work on its construction being so very thin on the ground.

Here's a view of the back of the abbey, showing the church in the background, the monks' quarters to the right and the garden in the foreground ...

Abbey overview

Today the abbey is looked after by a "Friends of Boscodon" society. Naturally, a lot of preservation work has taken place, with efforts to reproduce original details. I love this bit of guttering on the dormitory - made up of  hollowed out logs  ...

Gutter and roof detail

Moving around behind the dormitory towards the church reveals some of the architectural detail ...

Dormitory with church behind

Building detail

.
I loved this doorway ...

Old door


.. but it was inside the church and the chapel that we were most  moved. I estimated the vault of the ceiling to be somewhere around 25 metres high ...

The magnificent, austere church interior

Unlike the pomp of mainstream churches, this one was starkly austere in its presentation. Di reckons that the windows may never have had glass in them - they are well protected by overhang arches and the thickness of the walls - let alone stained glass, and I reckon she could be right. The walls are unadorned by paintings or elaborate iconography but at the far end there is a large, simple carved Christ figure ...

An simple Christ figure


Tucked away in a corner is this simple carved statue, with a bowl in a niche behind ...

Simple wooden statue


Not being steeped in the particulars of abbey life, I'm not sure how things worked, but there is a small inner chapel for - well, can you tell me? ...

The small inner chapel

... where the focus is clearly on peaceful, silent contemplation ...

Place of Silence and Peace

Simple icons grace the corners ...

Icon in the chapel


Icon in the chapel

Back outside, a product of this year's sculpture workshop was on display ...

From the sculpture summer school

There was a definite sense of tranquility about the abbey which would have been a wonderful refuge at times when wars weren't raging. The abbey is surrounded by a wonderful forest (decimated by over-harvesting in the 18th century and since regrown) which no doubt helps create the peaceful atmosphere. However, we were reminded of the warfare that blighted the region in more recent times by this plaque honouring resistance fighters captured here at the abbey and in the surrounding forest, then tortured and ultimately killed by the Gestapo during the latter stages of World War II ...

Honouring Le Maquisards

In contrast to those despicable actions is the spirit of these words, which must be what led the original monks to come here in the first place and live such austere lives ...

Spiritual words

Here's my very rough take on what it says: 
God found that the world he created is missing the most beautiful things of all: man and woman, and him then creating them in his likeness (a bit of vanity there, nest-ce pas?); then going on to say to his new creations that are different but of the same flesh; without each other they are nothing; they are created to look after each other; he's created them in his likeness, to love and to be free, and that despite anything that might happen, nothing will change his love for them.

Epilogue

So ends another fantastic sojourn. Overall the trip was brilliant, with only a couple of disappointments, the biggest of which was perhaps that our friends Michel and Brigitte were unable to join us. (We are already scheming about how we can organise to spend some more time with them as soon as possible!) 

The highs were fantastic, including of course hiking the Tour des Ecrins and meeting Philippe on the third night, then spending the rest of the tour in his excellent company. Catching up with our old friend Carol Nash, who we hadn't seen for about a quarter of a century was another, and we had meals with her on several occasions as well as a couple of days of climbing together. Another highlight was having Philippe join us at our apartment and come climbing for a day - his first for about 20 years. (We look forward to doing some more climbing with him in the future.) Having our friends Mary and Tim come across from Ireland to stay for a few days was also a highlight: it was terrific to have their company and repay them some of the wonderful hospitality they have shown us on a number of occasions at various venues from Mazomanie to Yosemite to Jasper National Park.

Today we are home. We've got a terrific day ahead of us in the form of: exercise (a bike ride), communing with nature (poking around in the garden) and - with the Herington lads - enjoying Australia's number one cultural pursuit - the AFL Grand Final! Afterwards, Adrian and Anthony will stay on for a meal and give us some of the gossip we've missed out on over the past month and a half. Unfortunately Mary won't be able to join us as she has to bring home the bacon. And I better get at it, so that's all for now!